New with us - Laser cuts

We have expanded our machine park with a class 1 laser system BRM-100160 in order to be able to offer you even more possibilities in the future with regard to our processing of plastics.

With our modern panel saws and our large 3-axis milling machines, we are able to meet most of our customers' wishes and requirements. But not all of them, and so we often receive enquiries as to whether we can supply blanks with polished edges, or enquiries about milled parts that are so filigree that they cannot be implemented easily or at all with a milling machine. With a laser system, however, such requests would no longer be a problem in the future, which is why we have decided to expand our machine park in this way.

Before buying a laser, however, research was first required, because there are not only a large number of different manufacturers for laser systems, but also different designs, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages.

For us, it was important to use a closed laser with a class 1 laser unit, because open designs with a class 4 laser have to comply with a lot of safety regulations, which would have required, among other things, extensive reconstruction measures within the production area. The open laser systems would have the advantage that significantly larger formats are possible, but often only smaller formats are needed, so that this advantage is too small in comparison to the disadvantages in our view. In order to ensure the greatest possible flexibility in terms of material selection, material thicknesses and, above all, sizes of the laser parts, we opted for the largest laser in a closed design that we could obtain from BRM-Laser.

But we don't buy a pig in a poke, as the saying goes, so we made an appointment and went to the BRM-Laser showroom to have a look at the selected model in practice. With a few samples of our plastic sheets in our luggage, we were able to convince ourselves of the quality of the laser cuts and did not think twice before buying the laser.

Last week, our new laser was delivered, set up and our employees were instructed in the device, so that we can now finally offer cuttings with a laser.

A few key data on our new laser system

• Enclosed design with class 1 laser
• Infinitely height adjustable honeycomb and slat table
• Interchangeable lenses with 63.5mm and 100mm
• Automatic laser calibration
• Modern control panel with monitor on the laser unit
• Steplessly adjustable power of the laser
• Steplessly adjustable speed of the laser
• Laser cutting and engraving in one step

Technical data of our new laser system

• Dimensions Length 2180mm * Width 1520mm
• Laser class 1 with 100W laser power
• Laser cuts up to 1600mm length
• Laser cuts up to 1000mm width
• Laser cuts up to 10mm thick
• Machining accuracy +/-0.1mm
• Laser speed up to 800mm/s
• Weight 560kg

Possibilities with our new laser system

With our new laser, we are now able to cut plastic sheets from selected plastics up to a maximum size of 1600mmx1000mm in any shape. Until now, this was usually possible without any problems on one of our milling machines, but especially when the details were too filigree or the milled parts were too small, this posed challenges for our employees at the milling machine that were sometimes impossible to implement. Also, cuts with polished edges, as is often desired, especially with transparent acrylic glass, cannot be made without further finishing using machining methods such as sawing or milling, so that the edges were always saw-rough. With a laser system, on the other hand, clear, polished cut edges are no longer a problem. Rectangular cuts with rounded corners, holes or circular cuts are also easily possible with our laser.

Plastics for laser cutting

Not all plastics can be processed with a laser and there are also limits in terms of thickness when it comes to laser cutting, but in our online shop we already stock plenty of plastic sheets that are suitable for cutting with a laser.

• Acrylic glass panels in transparent with up to 10mm thickness
• Acrylic glass sheets in opal with 5mm thickness
• ABS and ASA/ABS sheets up to 10mm thick
• Polyethylene sheets with 10mm thickness
• Polypropylene sheets up to 10mm thick
• Polystyrene sheets up to 10mm thick
• PTFE sheets up to 3mm thick
• DecoVitas decorative panels with and without self-adhesion

Other plastics suitable for cutting with a laser would include polyamide (PA), polyformaldehyde (POM), PUR or SAN.

However, there are also plastic sheets in our online shop that are not suitable for cutting with a laser.

• Plastic sheets made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Plastic sheets made of polycarbonate (PC)
• Plastic sheets made of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PET-G)
• Plastic sheets made of multilayer high-pressure laminate (HPL)
• Aluminium composite panels with aluminium top layer
• Plastic panels with more than 10mm thickness
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• PTFE sheets with more than 3mm thickness

Order laser cuts via the online shop

Our programmers are currently working on a concept that will make it possible to order suitable plastic sheets as laser cuts conveniently via our online shop. In addition to the usual cuts in rectangular format, functions are also to be provided that allow you to select one or more rounded corners by specifying the desired radii. Furthermore, simple geometric shapes such as circles, semicircles, rings, ovals or triangles are to be implemented, which you will then be able to order easily and quickly in future via our configurator by entering the required parameters.

Unfortunately, this will still take some time, so that until completion, the only option is to supply you with our laser cuts by e-mail on request.

Plastic parts in laser cutting

Would you like your plastic sheets to be cut to size with polished edges or filigree details? Then please send us your enquiry with detailed information via our contact form or by email. A design drawing (as DXF, DWG, EPS or PDF) of the laser parts would be desirable so that our friendly staff can provide you with a concrete offer.